A governance proposal aims to cease operations on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium, and Aptos, while also retiring 50 asset markets. Deposits on some chains have plummeted by over 90%.
By Shaurya Malwa|Edited by Jamie Crawley Jul 30, 2026, 2:25 p.m. 3 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on SummaryShow- Aave is looking to exit six blockchains that have seen low usage, impacting approximately $98 million in deposits, as part of a broader strategy to improve performance.
- The six chains collectively contribute to less than 1% of Aave’s total assets, which are around $14 billion, and generate less than $5,000 in quarterly revenue each, significantly below the operational costs.
- The plan includes freezing these markets to new transactions and making borrowing costly enough to encourage users to exit voluntarily, framing the decision as a method to cut costs and mitigate risk.
Aave, recognized as the largest decentralized lending platform, is contemplating a governance proposal to discontinue operations on six blockchains, which would impact roughly $98 million in deposits. The initiative aims to phase out “low-adoption” asset markets and 21 expired Pendle principal tokens across 11 Aave deployments, while entirely ceasing activity on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium, and Aptos.
The rationale behind this proposal is primarily economic. Each of these six chains currently generates less than $5,000 quarterly, with Metis, Soneium, and Aptos each contributing under $1,000, which does not cover the expenses associated with their maintenance, including price feeds and liquidation systems.
For comparison, Aave's deployment on the Ethereum mainnet earns over $142 million annually, while Base generates about $4.7 million, in stark contrast to Metis, which brings in approximately $3,000.
Deposit levels have drastically decreased across all six chains over the past six months. Soneium's deposits dropped by 95%, Aptos saw a 94% decline, zkSync fell by 88% to around $844,000, Scroll decreased by 86% to about $2 million, Metis dropped by 79%, and Sonic, the largest among them, fell by 74% to just under $8 million.
These six chains collectively hold about $13 million in deposits, representing less than 1% of Aave’s total assets of nearly $14 billion spread across 23 chains, according to DefiLlama data.
In the past year, Aave's borrowers paid approximately $888 million in interest, most of which is returned to the lenders. Aave retained around $117 million, equating to about 13 cents from every dollar earned. The quarterly accounts reveal a similar distribution, showing $156 million in gross revenue for the second quarter.
The revenue generated by these six chains is so minimal that it becomes negligible; each generates under $5,000 quarterly, with Metis, Soneium, and Aptos contributing less than $1,000. With Aave's typical share, the protocol would earn only a few hundred dollars from a $5,000 quarter, making Metis’s contribution roughly equivalent to the cost of a meal.
The timing of this proposal is driven by declining financial performance. Gross revenue fell from $198 million in the first quarter to $156 million in the second, marking a 20% decrease. Preliminary figures for the third quarter suggest that revenues are continuing to drop, particularly in liquidation fees, which plummeted from $27 million in the second quarter to under $200,000 so far.
Aave will not forcibly close existing positions. Instead, the markets will be frozen to new deposits and borrowing, with limits set to a single token, 99% of borrower interest redirected to Aave’s treasury, and a 5% base borrowing rate introduced to make it sufficiently expensive for remaining users to stay.
This proposal aligns with Aave's strategic shift, previously discussed months ago. In December, the Aave Chan Initiative suggested retracting deployments on zkSync, Metis, and Soneium due to their “lack of product market fit,” and proposed a requirement for any future deployment to ensure at least $2 million in annual revenue.
Aave frames this cleanup as not only a cost-cutting strategy but also as a measure for risk reduction, where the two aspects are interconnected.
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Anvil: The Missing Collateral Layer
Anvil: The Missing Collateral Layer
Anvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.
By CoinDesk ResearchJul 29, 2026Commissioned byAnvilAnvil is a shared on-chain collateral layer built on a programmable letter of credit: reserve assets as a guarantee -no loan, no interest, keep custody & yield.
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